Advantage: Dino Charge
by Sir Perfluous
Summary: Tyler just wanted to play tennis. Now he's dragged Riley in over his head too. Can the two Rangers find a winning strategy and learn something from each other while they're at it?


**Disclaimer:**  
**I do not own Power Rangers, its characters, or any of its related intellectual property. I'm just a humble fan trying his best to salute the show.  
**

* * *

Tyler Navarro stretched his arms over his head and removed his apron after another Friday of bussing tables at the museum's café. Despite being covered in grease and grime, he wore a cheerful grin on his face, looking no less tired than he did when he started work that morning. As far as he was concerned, tomorrow couldn't come soon enough.

As he made his way inside The Cave, which served as the Rangers' base of operations, he caught sight of his gym bag sitting in the corner with his trusty red tennis racket sticking out of it. Saturday would be the start of tryouts for Amber Beach's Intramural Tennis League, and he was determined to make the team this year. Unfortunately, there were only a few openings on the doubles teams and he still needed a partner for the tryout. No worries, thought to himself. He was certain he could recruit one of his fellow Rangers to help.

As he began to rummage through his bag, he saw an exhausted looking Chase and Koda come in through the side entrance wearing their beige coveralls. The haggard pair had just returned from a dig site and they were covered in dirt and mud. "Well, that was a bloody waste of time." Chase grumbled sourly as he gave Tyler a passing nod. Koda simply grunted in agreement and shuffled into his cave like a zombie, most likely to collapse on his bed of animal skins.

"Uh, hey guys... have a rough day?" Tyler asked, trying to lighten the mood a little.

"I'll spare the details, mate." Chase replied walking up to his workstation. "But I know it will all be worth it when I can get off work and go to meet Angie at the movies tonight." Looking down, he saw a large piece of folded paper with his name on it. "What is this?"

"Maybe a love note from Angie?" Tyler playfully joked.

Chase frowned as he read the paper. "More like another urgent To-Do list from Kendall. And she already knew I had big plans tonight too!"

Tyler laughed and gave the Black Ranger a friendly pat on the shoulder. "You might have to quit trying to find a girlfriend altogether bud. It looks like you're already whipped."

"Ho! Ho! You're a real riot Tyler." Chase grumbled putting the list in his pocket and stalking off back to work.

Tyler watched his friend leave with a sympathetic smile, then sighed. So much for Chase and Koda. As he turned to go, he caught sight of the familiar green shirt of Riley going out the door. Slung around his shoulder was his bag of fencing gear.

"Hey Riley! Wait up!" Tyler called grabbing his own gym bag and running to catch up with the Green Ranger. The two exchanged greetings as they exited the cave and headed back toward the museum's main atrium. "So, are you busy this weekend?" Tyler asked hopefully.

Riley shrugged, "I was probably going to practice my fencing and footwork drills a little... otherwise, no. Why?"

Tyler grinned and brandished his tennis racket like a sword, taking a fencing stance. "How would you like to play a little tennis?"

* * *

"I told you! I've never played competitively!" Riley protested as the two friends warmed up on the local tennis courts that Saturday morning. Bright morning sunlight shone from above while across the court, their competitors for the first match were finishing their stretches.

"Positive thinking Riley. Just follow my lead and you'll be fine." Tyler said trying to reassure him while he took a few practice swings with his racket.

Riley sighed, "Tell me again how you talked me into helping you with this?"

"Probably because I'm the guy wearing Red, remember?" Tyler replied with an infectious smile, earning an eye roll from the younger Ranger. "Besides, it'll give us a good chance for us to hang out today, right?"

Before they could say another word, they saw a figure waving from behind the chain link fence of the tennis court. "Hey, Navarro! I didn't think you were actually gonna show!"

The two Rangers turned to face a tall athletic young man with a crew cut and fair features. Tyler growled under his breath for a moment, then forced an easy smile. "Sorry to disappoint you McKean. If you're lucky, you might not get paired in our grouping for a game today."

Riley turned to Tyler and asked quietly, "Who is that guy?"

"Jack McKean." Tyler muttered quietly to Riley. "He comes by here to play pickup games once in a while. The guys is good, but he's a huge showoff, and an even bigger jerk."

Jack laughed and put his racket over his shoulder while walking away. "I won't need luck. I'll be waiting for you in the finals."

"Man, I hate that guy." Tyler frowned to himself as the line judge tossed Tyler a tennis ball and signaled for the game to begin. Riley clutched his racket as he watched Tyler serve the ball. "Here goes nothing." he muttered nervously to himself.

* * *

The match did not last very long at all. Despite Riley's best efforts, he couldn't seem to keep up once a rally got going. For every point Tyler would score, their opponents scored two. Worst of all was when fast balls with lots of top spin would be smashed directly at Riley. Every time, Riley found himself freezing up, or incorrectly guessing the direction of the play. After two grueling sets, Tyler and Riley exited the courts to allow the next groups to play. As they exited, Jack McKean was leaning against the fences with a smug grin. "Tough break Navarro. After a showing like that, I'd understand if you're too embarrassed to try again next year."

Tyler stared down McKean for a long moment with a neutral expression before saying calmly, "You'd better get going before you miss your own game."

As Jack shrugged and walked off, Riley saw a hint of discouragement in Tyler's normally optimistic face. "Hey, Tyler. I'm really sorry I was so bad out there. Maybe if I..."

"No." Tyler cut him off, slumping down on a nearby bench. "Actually, I probably should be the one apologizing to you. I kinda dragged you in over your head. I might have been a little too focused on my own goal to qualify, so this one is on me."

Riley grimaced as he took a drink from his water bottle and handed it over to Tyler. "Well, on the plus side, we can still try once more in the loser's bracket tomorrow. So, what now?"

The Red Ranger furrowed his brows in thought for a few moments before turning to Riley. "We're going to practice. I'm going to help teach you to get better with your returns."

"Hold on," Riley interrupted, "because let me guess... _helping is always the right thing to do_, right?"

"See? You're a quick study." Tyler smiled brightly.

Riley sighed in resignation. "You do know how corny that whole family motto sounds, right?"

"Doesn't make it any less true." Tyler replied pulling Riley to his feet. "Now come on! We've got our work cut out for us."

* * *

Later that day, after the preliminary tryouts had finished, Riley stood on one of the empty courts, nervously gripping his racket as Tyler finished loading up a tennis ball machine. "Ok Riley," he called. "I'll watch from here, so just do your best to return these balls, ok?"

The Green Ranger nodded and crouched low, ready to react. As the first several slow balls were released, he sprung into action, succeeding in hitting them back over the net. However, as the machine setting changed and the rate of fire sped up, Riley began to struggle again, tripping over his feet and taking some wild swings. Tyler took careful notice as Riley began trying to use his racket like a fencing saber, before getting completely pelted by the fast balls. Riley gave a tired and frustrated growl as he took a last swing at the air and the machine finally went empty. "That was no better than in the game today!"

Tyler gave a thoughtful look as he reloaded the machine and took Riley's place on the court. "I think I have an idea. Riley you're looking pretty tense and unnatural out there."

"Gee, thanks." The Green Ranger mumbled.

"No." Tyler said shaking his head, "I mean, if playing tennis is unnatural to you, then try doing something that does feel more natural, like fencing. Both sports are all about speed, strength, and agility, right? Maybe you can try to use the same footwork, or arm movements when you swing."

Riley shrugged. "It's worth a shot, I guess. But what about those fast balls?"

Tyler took a ready stance as the tennis ball machine lit up again. "I'll teach you a special move my dad showed me a long time ago. Watch this!"

Riley watched as another hail of tennis balls rocketed toward Tyler, but the Red Ranger skillfully darted about, returning each one. As the fast balls with top spin began to fly, Tyler flipped his racket into an odd reverse grip and used a quick whiling motion to deflect the balls back easily. As he continued to watch, Riley made a mental note to himself to experiment using that same movement with a sword. When he finished, Tyler took a breath and handed the racket back to Riley. "Ok, now it's your turn."

As late afternoon turned into early evening, Riley sat down and told Tyler he was tired and had enough for the day. After Tyler packed up and left for home, Riley stood up and began loading the tennis ball machine again. He just had to keep practicing and master that reverse grip move. Tyler had looked so down after their losses that afternoon, Riley thought to himself guiltily. After Tyler had spent so much time teaching him today, he didn't want to let his team's leader down. He couldn't. Taking a fencing stance, Riley reversed his grip on his racket and got ready to swing again.

* * *

The next morning, Tyler headed back to the tennis courts for the second day of the tryouts. Even if he and Riley were in the loser's bracket now, they still had a chance to land qualifying spots if they played well enough. Fortunately, the crowds were also a little thinner as it was Sunday morning and most other park visitors were likely sleeping in at that hour. As Tyler entered the courts from the park, he was surprised to find Riley already there waiting.

"Hey! I'm surprised to see you here so early." Tyler said lacing up his shoes and stretching out just before their next match started. "I'd almost think you spent the night here."

Riley turned his head away and stifled a yawn so Tyler wouldn't notice. "Don't be crazy. I just didn't want to let you down after all the time and effort you took just to help me yesterday. So… thanks for that."

Tyler gave a touched smile and gave Riley a friendly clap on the shoulder. "You thought you would ever let me down? Now you're the one being crazy. Come on. Let's get going. I have a good feeling about today."

As the Rangers' opponents got into position and got the first ball from the line judge, Tyler turned to Riley. "You ready to get wild?"

Riley took a ready stance and reversed the grip on his racket with a grin. "Oh yeah."

* * *

After another long Monday at work came and went, Tyler yawned as he got off his shift a little early. He began heading down to The Cave after getting a text message that Riley had wanted to show him something. Along the way, he met Chase in the hall who told him he had gotten a similar text. "So," Chase asked as they walked, "how did the tennis tournament go this weekend?"

Tyler shrugged calmly. "We lost… didn't even come close to qualifying. But on Sunday we did win one set."

"You seem awfully fine for having lost." Chase pointed out curiously. "I thought you told me you were really hoping to get on that team this year."

"I was." Tyler replied. "But it's just a game. Besides, it would probably cut into my other extracurricular activities, namely being a Ranger."

The Red and Black Rangers entered The Cave to find Riley and Koda already waiting for them. In his hand, Riley held a Dino Saber. "All right, kiddo. What's all this then?" Chase asked curiously.

"Riley says, he has surprise for team." Koda offered helpfully.

Riley grinned hefting his blade. "That's right Koda. And we can all thank Tyler for it too."

Tyler saw everyone glance at him a moment before giving Riley a prompting look. The Green Ranger continued, "This weekend, Tyler taught me a really neat move to use when tennis balls were hit right at you. The more I practiced it, the more I got to thinking. Why couldn't it be used for fencing too, or maybe even for fighting Sledge's monsters?"

Koda scratched his head. "I... do not understand."

Riley proudly walked over to a corner of the cave and whipped off a cover revealing a small tennis ball throwing machine he had set up. "I set this up and tweaked it a little to simulate what it might be like when a monster tries to use blaster shots against us. With this, we can all practice the moves Tyler showed me so that we can deflect enemy attacks in the future."

Tyler's face lit up with excitement. "Cool!"

Riley handed Tyler his Dino Saber, "Since you gave me a lesson in tennis, I should return the favor and teach you a little swordplay."

Chase and Koda exchanged a nod and stepped aside as Riley prepared the machine and Tyler took a ready stance with the sword in reverse grip. Little did they know, that as the first high speed ball was fired, Shelby walked into the cave, completely unaware of what was going on.

"Hey guys! Sorry I'm late!" she called as she walked in, still preoccupied with deleting Riley's text from her phone. In a flash, Tyler turned the Dino Saber to deflect the tennis ball, and it flew sideways, ricocheting twice off the corners of the cave walls… and then right into Shelby's face.

The four male Rangers froze as Shelby gave a yelp and removed her hand from her forehead where a large red welt was now forming. "Oww..." was all she could muster.

"Nice return." Chase commented, folding his arms with a smirk. "Advantage, Red Ranger."

"Shelby! I am so sorry…" Tyler gasped dropping the sword. Shelby glanced around for a long moment, and then gave a sickly sweet smile before grabbing Tyler's tennis racket in the corner and advancing on him. Laughter from the other male Rangers echoed as Tyler fearfully scrambled past them, retreating out of the cave with a furious Pink Ranger in hot pursuit.

* * *

**A/N:**  
_**Apologies to all the real tennis players out there for the use of an awesome but impractical racket technique. I felt the fandom needed an explanation for why a foil fencer like Riley would ever use a reverse weapon grip in battle, or for that matter, keep a tennis ball launcher in the base! Otherwise, please feel free to read and review!**_


End file.
